


Warblers: The Road to Nationals

by xSilentHarmony



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-03
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-20 04:04:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/581115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSilentHarmony/pseuds/xSilentHarmony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Warblers may have made it through Sectionals, but now the biggest challenge is underway to win Nationals. And the battle may not be the only one as inner personalities begin to clash among all the members. Secrets spill, words spread, and a little love forms along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sectionals

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure where this came from, but I really wanted to write it so here it is!

Watching the New Directions’ performance had started out okay. Jeff couldn’t help the unease that entered his thoughts as he watched them perform _Gangnam Style_. He was confident in what the Warblers had been able to pull off against this sham of a performance by National champions; Jeff loved being able to show off his own dance moves to that caliber in their performance, especially since the Warblers had never moved that much during a performance before, but Jeff had loved it.

 

“Think there’s any reason why they’re singing gibberish instead of choosing a song we can understand?” Sebastian muttered.

 

“It is a risky move,” Nick replied. “The popularity of _Gangnam Style_ could get them the votes to beat us. But we are in Ohio, so the judges might not appreciate a song they can’t understand.”

 

Jeff gasped and clapped loudly when the main male dancer in New Directions—he somewhat reminded Jeff of a younger version of Noah Puckerman—did a double black flip across the stage. Jeff was positive this dancer had been trained professionally in some area.

 

“I can’t believe they let Nina Blown-Chang lead vocals,” Sebastian said. “Surely she can’t be the best singer left out of last year. They must really be hurting since Berry graduated.”

 

“Maybe she knows Korean,” Jeff replied. He shrugged.

 

“Almost done with the song,” Nick commented. The New Directions shot off cannons of confetti as they went into the chorus for the last time. He leaned forward. “The confetti remind you of a certain performance?”

 

“Regionals. Blaine and Kurt sang _Candles_ and we did _Raise Your Glass_ ,” Jeff replied with a soft smile on his face. He watched as the members took to the steps and finished the song with the final line.

 

Jeff’s eyes widened at the sight of a brunette in the back of New Directions collapsing suddenly at the end of _Gangnam Style_. He vaguely saw the likes of Santana and Noah Puckerman along with the New Directions’ coach jump and start running for the stage as the members of the New Directions surrounded the girl.

 

“What’s going on?” Nick asked. He hopped, trying to see over Jeff’s shoulder.

 

“Someone collapsed on stage,” Jeff replied offhandedly. His eyes were trained to the stage as the New Directions ushered the collapsed girl off the stage. Following the group was their coach and members Jeff recognized from last year.

 

“Well, there goes their chance at Nationals again.” Hunter laughed under his breath. “Told Blaine he should have joined us. I knew he’d be sidelined like this.”

 

“Hunter, someone just collapsed,” Jeff replied. He glared at the captain of the Warblers. “Be a little more compassionate.”

 

Hunter huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. Without checking with the others, Jeff moved to head towards the stage. Before he made it far, however, Nick grasped his shoulders and held him in place.

 

“We would be the last people to help her, Jeff.”

 

Jeff moved to tell Nick to leave him alone when the announcer over the speaker asked for all the competing choirs to report backstage. The Warblers made their way towards the stairs that led backstage to meet the three judges.

 

The oldest judge—Jeff vaguely remembered him being announced as some obituary editor—stepped in front of the others. He motioned both groups to step forward.

 

“The girl who collapsed on stage is fine,” the judge started. “However, the fact that the New Directions left the stage before finishing their set list means instant disqualification. With this distinction, New Directions will take the third place slot, leaving your two groups with the possibility to move on to Regionals.”

 

Shocked at what they were being told, Jeff desperately wanted to ask how they could so callously allow this to happen. What did they expect the other members to do? Dance around her until she got back up to finish the routine?

 

After a moment, the female judge smiled and motioned for the two groups to take their place on stage. Jeff stood beside the other Warblers, worriedly looking through the audience in the hope that he’d see something that would make this a dream. Sure he wanted the Warblers to finally beat the New Directions, but not like this. It almost seemed like it wasn’t worth it if they got disqualified.

 

Jeff looked up when he heard the female judge begin announcing who would move on to Regionals.

 

“It gives me great honor to announce that the winner of the 2012 Western Ohio Sectionals is…. The Dalton Academy Warblers!”

 

Jeff plastered a smile on his face as he and the other Warblers ran to the trophy. Hunter grasped the trophy with an arrogant smirk on his face as if to say that he was the one to bring the New Directions down. Jeff let it go, instead choosing to jump up and down on cue in excitement alongside Nick.

 

After calming down for a moment, Jeff started thinking about how the New Directions must be feeling. While personally, Jeff had never experienced losing by disqualification, he imagined how heartbroken they must all be. The routine might not have been as high-energy as the Warblers, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t put less time into it; to have all that taken away because of technicality just seemed wrong. He turned towards the backstage and thought about trying to find where they all were.

 

Without telling the rest of the group, Jeff started heading backstage. He almost made it to the hallway of the school when Nick ambushed him.

 

“What are you doing, Jeff?” Nick asked. Jeff took notice of the other Warblers straggling behind Nick.

 

“Going to find Blaine to see if that girl’s okay.”

 

“Why do we care?” Hunter scoffed. He looked disinterested if anything. “We won, they didn’t. She’s not our problem.”

 

“Hunter, we’re show choirs. The least we could do is show our condolences,” Sebastian said. At Hunter’s incredulous look, Sebastian shrugged and turned his deep green eyes towards Jeff.

 

Jeff turned and headed down the hallway, looking for doors that could lead to the choir room. At the end of the hallway, he found a set of doors that opened to the New Directions standing around the girl who had collapsed. She was lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling while Finn and someone else fanned her face.

 

“Is she alright?” Jeff asked. Before he could make it further into the room, Blaine pushed through and stepped in front of him.

 

“Why are you here?” Blaine asked harshly.

 

“We wanted to make sure she was okay,” Jeff said. He peered over Blaine’s shoulder to see if she was okay.

 

“Well she’s fine, so you can go now. You’ve helped enough,” Blaine replied.

 

“We didn’t have anything to do with her fainting, Blaine.” Jeff motioned to the girl. “Obviously it was something else.”

 

“Well you’ve obviously done more than you needed. Congratulations, you beat the New Directions.”

 

Jeff stepped back, hurt at the way Blaine was acting. He looked down at his feet, shuffled slightly before nodding. He turned away from Blaine and motioned for the others to walk out. He walked past a smirking Hunter and headed for the parking lot. He felt Nick race behind him, grasping his side to stop him.

 

“Jeff, stop!” Nick exclaimed.

 

“Let’s just go celebrate our win,” Jeff murmured. He turned to Jeff and smiled slightly. Jeff leaned forward and pressed his lips against Nick’s.

 

Sebastian and the others appeared behind the couple. A grin on his face, Sebastian said, “I have the perfect formula in my dorm to make our celebration the best.”


	2. A Drunken Deed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Warblers celebrate their victory over the New Directions by getting drunk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never written like this before (multiple point of views watching the same thing basically) so please review and let me know what you guys think. Also, I'll be posting a link to a photo that has all the Warblers used in here named in my profile, so be sure to look for that!

Somehow, and honestly Jeff didn’t truly want to think about it, all the Warblers were standing in Sebastian and Thad’s dorm room, partying in some form or another. Jeff sat on one of the beds (vaguely Jeff had an eerie feeling that it was in fact Sebastian’s, and he didn’t want to think about what had gone on here) and watched as several Warblers stumbled around one another, drunk to the extreme.

Jeff was buzzed, that much he knew as he drank from the red solo cup. Across the room Jeff took in the sight of Nick on the other bed, jumping up and down and losing all the control he normally held sober.

Throwing all the reasoning away, Jeff grasped the cup and downed the drink.

 

Across the room Sebastian was staring at the other patrons in the room with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Beside him sat Jeremy and Eddie, though the two were in the midst of seeing who could down their drink the fastest.

“Wonder why Sterling isn’t drinking like everyone else,” Sebastian said to himself. He stood up, ignoring the way the two beside him eyed him warily. Smoothing his still-gelled hair, Sebastian made his way across the dorm to Jeff. He grabbed a drink from a random person and offered it to Jeff.

“I’m fine,” Jeff said. “I’ve got my own.”

“Well you look like you’re not enjoying yourself,” Sebastian commented. He looked over his shoulder to see Nick messing around with Hunter’s cat and turned back. “It’s a party, Sterling, enjoy yourself.”

“I’m fine. Someone should stay sober in case we get caught,” Jeff lied. His hazel eyes flicked to the floor before finding Sebastian’s green eyes once more. “Besides, I should be there for Nick when he’s ready to head to our dorm.”

“Or,” Sebastian replied as he slid beside Jeff. “You could forget about your boyfriend for the moment and enjoy our beating the New Directions for once. Granted it wasn’t really on fair grounds, but we did beat them.”

After a moment, Jeff smiled and took the drink from Sebastian. He knocked the drink back in one go. Groaning at the awful aftertaste, Jeff wiped his arm across his lips and moved to grab another drink.

 

Trent couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Do my eyes deceive me?” he asked himself. He watched as Jeff and Sebastian began growing closer and closer together without Nick even turning to look at the two.

“What’s going on?” Cameron asked, situating himself beside Trent. He wrapped an arm around Trent’s waist.

“I think Sebastian’s putting the moves on Jeff,” Trent whispered. “He’s corrupting our last innocent Warbler! Cameron, we can’t let this happen.”

“Have you heard the noise that comes from Nick and Jeff’s dorm? Honey, he’s far from innocent,” Cameron replied. He turned and watched the scene before him.

“Don’t you think we should stop it before Sebastian makes an enemy out of Nick though?” Trent asked. His eyes turned sympathetic towards Sebastian. “I mean, we’ve all known about how he’s kind of liked Jeff for a while now. But putting the moves on him like this will just hurt us all in the end.”

Shaking his head, Cameron replied, “No. You know it’s not our business to get involved and Nick would kill us for some reason or another while also killing Sebastian. Besides, I’m interested to see what Nick will do to him.”

Gaping, Trent exclaimed, “You are horrible!”

“I know, it’s why you love me,” Cameron replied, grin overtaking his face.

 

The night continued with several boys joining in different drinking games from Quarters to Beer Pong (where they found a ping pong ball, Jeff didn’t want to know and he was too drunk by now to care). Jeff sat next to Sebastian on the bed, only by now his head had slipped onto Sebastian’s shoulder.

“And I just… I just don’t understand sometimes why… why is Nick so concerned with the future? Ya know what? I don’t wanna grow up. I’m never… never growing up,” Jeff drunkenly said. He pushed himself up and faced Sebastian. “I’ll be Peter Pan!”

Sebastian turned fully to face Jeff. He took in everything from Jeff’s flushed cheeks to his messed up hair and his bloodshot eyes. Before he could help himself, Sebastian murmured, “You were so brave for checking on that girl tonight. I’d never have been able to do it.”

Pressing a finger to Sebastian’s lips, Jeff shook his head and replied, “N—No, you would’ve. You’re stronger than you think.”

Grasping Jeff’s wrist, Sebastian pulled it away from his lips and as if time suddenly slowed, moved slowly towards Jeff’s lips. After moments their lips meshed together, moving in synchronized harmony.

 

Nick sober was nothing like when he was drunk. When he was sober, Nick was able to keep everything to himself and be an intelligent—with minor digressions when it came to the likes of classes he would never get the reasoning for—man with an equally intelligent other half who just liked to live in another world instead of face the fact that in a year’s time they would be going off to college.

Drunken Nick on the other hand liked to let all inhibitions go. Everything flew away as he was the one able to escape to another world.

That world came crashing down when he noticed Jeff sucking face with man-whore Sebastian.

Nick stumbled as he walked across the bed and almost fell a few times before he was able to slip off the bed and get across the tiny, tiny room. He got in front of the couple and let all the anger built up for the ex-captain out. With a yell, he shoved Sebastian away. He stumbled back before regaining his footing.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Duval?” Sebastian yelled. He pushed himself up and glared at Nick.

“You were making out with my boyfriend, Smythe,” Nick bit back, sobering up at a quick pace. “You know what that was for.”

“Well you weren’t paying him any attention!” Sebastian exclaimed. “Maybe if you were a better boyfriend—”

“Finish that sentence, and I will kill you, Sebastian.” Nick breathed deeply, trying to calm himself. “I know how long you’ve watched Jeff and I know your policy involving guys. It’s like a hit and run for you. You hit them and then shoo before you can even give a relationship a chance. Jeff’s first of all with me, and second of all is too good for that. So stay the hell away from him.”

“I’ll stay the hell away from him when you start treating him right,” Sebastian challenged. He got to his feet and stared Nick straight in the eye. “You know how you’ve been treating him.”

“You have no idea about our relationship,” Nick said.

“Guys,” Jeff said softly. “Please, stop.”

“Stay out of this!” Nick and Sebastian yelled simultaneously. Before they could get another word out, Jeff’s eyes started watering.

“Jeff,” Nick whispered.

“Just leave me alone!” Jeff exclaimed. He stood and ran to the door, shoving people in his way as he made it to the door. He got the door open and ran down the hall away from his dorm.

Nick sighed and watched the door swing shut again slowly. He’d fucked up. Royally. And he knew it.

“Where is he going?” Sebastian asked.

“None of your business, Smythe, but he’s going to the Warbler practice room. It’s the only place he ever feels safe when he gets into fights.”


	3. Try

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Jeff fight at five in the morning and Sebastian just might have some sort of feeling for Jeff.

Sebastian didn’t know how he found himself walking lightly into the Warbler practice room so early in the morning. For some reason, he couldn’t find sleep and deep down he knew it had to do with Jeff.

Though his head was pounding from the hangover he was experiencing and the fact that the sun was beginning to shine through the large window, Sebastian powered through it to make it to where Jeff was lying.

He stared at Jeff for a moment when he finally made it to the blonde Warbler. Sleeping Jeff looked like a little kid with no worried in the world—Sebastian couldn’t help the snort because Jeff looked like a little kid when he was awake as well—even while his long limbs hung over the edge of the couch and he looked like he might fall to the ground soon.

After staring and mentally placing every little bit of Jeff in his memory for what seemed like an eternity, Sebastian leaned down and shook his shoulder gently.

“Jeff,” Sebastian whispered. “Wake up.”

Groaning, Jeff rolled as far away from Sebastian as he could. “Why do I gotta?”

“Because you need to go to bed. You shouldn’t spend the night trying to be comfy on that couch. It’s not going to get comfortable,” Sebastian replied softly. He winced at the grating sound his voice made to his own ears.

He really shouldn’t have taken to getting so drunk last night.

“But…” Jeff murmured. He turned, facing Sebastian. His deep hazel eyes focused sleepily on Sebastian’s green eyes. “Nicky’s mad at me.”

“And? You still should go to sleep in your bed,” Sebastian said. Before he could help himself, his thumb started caressing Jeff’s shoulder softly.

After a moment, Jeff sighed and nodded. He shuffled and got to his feet. Without a word, he moved out of the practice room and towards the dorms, leaving Sebastian behind.

When he was sure Jeff was not coming back, Sebastian flopped to the ground and groaned at the pain that flared in his head.

 

If there was one thing that annoyed Nick more than someone like Sebastian Smythe kissing his boyfriend, it was his boyfriend disturbing his sleep at five in the morning to go to bed.

Nick heard Jeff stumble and hit something (Nick was sure he’d just stubbed his toe on the door to the bathroom that somehow always ended up being left open) before crumpling onto his bed in a heap.

“Could you be any louder?” Nick asked. He rolled over, looking over at Jeff.

“Sorry, Nicky,” Jeff mumbled. He rolled over, facing Nick. “And I’m sorry about last night.”

“Let’s not talk about that right now,” Nick said. He rolled away from Jeff.

“But, Nicky, I am sorry. I was drunk… It shouldn’t have happened,” Jeff pleaded.

Annoyed, Nick sat up and faced Jeff with anger controlling his features. “Fine, you want to talk about it? Let’s talk about the fact that you cheated on me with a man-whore! Let’s talk about the fact that I was two feet away from you and you decided to put the moves on that sniveling asshole!”

Looking down at the duvet on the bed, Jeff mumbled, “Nick, I didn’t mean to. It just happened.”

“That’s not good enough, Jeff! God, sometimes I wonder what is wrong with you!”

“What’s wrong with me? What’s that supposed to mean?” Jeff rose to sit on his bed. He didn’t want to get angry with Nick, but he could quickly feel his heartbeat picking up and he began breathing short breaths.

“It means that you’re sometimes too gullible for your own good. Sebastian pushed himself onto you because he knew you would not think anything of it. He was taking advantage of you,” Nick replied. “That’s why I’m pissed off. You let it happen.”

Shaking his head, Jeff stood up and ran for the door. Before he opened it, he turned around and said through tears falling down his face, “I thought you knew me better than that, Nicky. You’re supposed to be my best friend, and you’re talking as if I’m… I’m…”

“As if you’re what, Jeff? Exactly like you are?” Nick finished.

Shaking his head, Jeff ripped the door open and ran down the hallway towards the practice room.

 

Flint was probably the closest to Nick and Jeff—besides Trent and Thad—that hadn’t graduated yet. In fact, as soon as he walked into senior French and saw Jeff situated at the back of the room, he knew instantly that Nick and Jeff were fighting.

Shaking his head, Flint sat down beside Thad and took out his notebook. He began lightly doodling on the first page while faintly listening to Thad go on and on about hearing the fight at five in the morning.

“I think this fight’s bad,” Thad whispered loudly. Flint threw him a look before sneaking a look at Jeff. He looked like a mess; his blond locks looked like they hadn’t had a brush run through them, his uniform was extremely wrinkled, and Flint was sure he could see tear tracks down his face.

Flint shook his head. “Just stay out of it. Hopefully they’ll pull together by Regionals or we’re screwed. We need both of them at their best to make it to Nationals.”

“Speaking of Regionals, any ideas on what we can do?” Thad asked. He looked towards the classroom for a second before turning back to Flint. “Personally I think we should go for some more upbeat songs. I think it’s what got us through.”

“No, you remember how well New Directions did last year. They did emotional songs. I think we should find deeper songs to sing for Regionals.”

“As nice as that little input is for the group, I’m the one who chooses the songs. Not you.” Flint looked over his shoulder at a smirking Hunter and mentally growled.

He missed the council. He missed David and Wes. He missed Blaine and Kurt.

 

Trent could tell by Warbler practice that something was going to go down. As soon as Nick walked into the room after Jeff, tension filled the area. The tension was so thick Trent was sure it could be cut with a knife.

Soon after Sebastian strolled into the room. Though Trent knew he tried hard to hide it, Sebastian sent a questioning look to Jeff before taking his spot leaning against one of the leather chairs.

Hunter took his spot in front of all the Warblers and sat in his own chair. His cat perched in his lap, preening from the touches Hunter was feeding him.

“Regionals. What are we thinking?” Hunter asked.

“I was thinking emotional songs,” Flint said from where he stood at the back of the group. “I mean, it’s worked for the New Directions.”

“But we’re a group that sings Top 40 hits,” Trent replied. “We might as well be asking for the judges to think of us as a gay school.”

Hunter snorted. “Might as well be. Plenty of you guys are.”

“That’s not the point, Hunter,” Sebastian said. He stood to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest. “The point is that we need to find more depth in our music. If the music speaks to the judges, we’ll win.”

“We got through Sectionals with—”

“We got through Sectionals because of that girl passing out,” Jeff said softly. Trent could see the blush that overtook his face when everyone turned to look at him. “I mean, yeah, they did _Gangnam Style_ , but that wasn’t the only thing they were planning on performing. They probably had some ballad laid out where their best girl vocalist would belt out with the others chiming in their notes and then end with a group number that featured someone strong like Blaine or that Unique girl.”

After a moment, Sebastian shuffled and said, “I might know a song that’s got deep meaning. It’s not all that popular on the radio yet but it’s _Try_ by P!nk.”

 

As hard as Nick tried to be angry at Sebastian for last night, he couldn’t help the awe at the sound that flows from Sebastian’s mouth when he begins singing the song a cappella. Nick, especially right now when he was still angry from the fight at five in the morning, wouldn’t admit it aloud, but he always enjoyed hearing Sebastian sing.

Even if he chose songs that didn’t show his abilities the best way.

Nick bit back a sigh that was making its way out and ran a hand through his short, black locks. He knew who Sebastian was singing the song to. He turned to look at Jeff, who held a soft smile towards Sebastian. Upon closer inspection, Nick could tell Jeff’s smile was strained. He didn’t want to be there any more than Nick did, it seemed.

 

Hunter didn’t understand these Warblers. Really, he’d only transferred here to lead this group to Nationals, but he didn’t understand how they could so easily get lost in the drama around them. In Hunter’s eyes, it was worse than being in military school.

He watched uninterested as Sebastian sang a song to Jeff and wished his sometimes friend would just shut up. After all, everyone in the room had a pounding headache to some varying degree and even if he were singing the best song in the world, no one wanted to hear it.

After Sebastian finished and winced back to his seat—Hunter smirked to himself at the pain Sebastian had caused himself—and looked up at him, Hunter shuffled a little and looked around the room.

“I think we need deeper songs,” Hunter said simply. “I would know how to win Regionals and get Presidential Honors after all.”

“How is that song not deep?” Hunter, surprised, looked over at Nick. Nick looked the most confused at Hunter’s remark. His eyebrows drew together and his eyes squinted as he tried to comprehend.

Honestly, Nick standing up for Sebastian after what just happened this morning shocked Hunter. He would’ve expected Nick to be the first one agreeing with him, after all that had gone down in less than twenty-four hours.

“I’m saying that we need deeper songs,” Hunter replied.

“And I’m asking how that song’s not enough,” Nick said. “We’ve done P!nk in the past.”

“And you lost Regionals when you did a P!nk song.”

Shaking his head, Nick stood up and started making his way from the room. Before anyone could get a word out, he was out the door, the door slamming shut behind him.


	4. Gone Too Far

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Jeff's fighting goes too far and consequences happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Jeff's dancing to is "Supermassive Black Hole" by 2CELLOS ft. Naya Rivera (I'm obsessed with the song!).

A week had passed and Trent could see that Jeff and Nick were still having problems. Anytime either of them spoke, a tense feeling would settle in the room and everyone would find some way to clear out of the room as quickly as possible.

Trent hated seeing his friends this way. He'd never seen his two best friends like this before. Even when they were acting odd around one another because of their feelings for one another, it'd been feasible to stand at least. Now, Trent just wanted to shove the two together in a room and tell them to work it out before he forced them to.

Trent currently sat beside Cameron, taking in the sight of the two walking on eggshells beside one another.  They hadn't spoken to one another at all, but that didn't change the feelings floating throughout the room.

Sighing, Trent murmured, "I wish they would just get over whatever it is they're fighting about."

Cameron shook his head, his brown eyes shining sympathetically. "I still think we should've interfered before it got this bad. We could've stopped this entire mess."

"You know we couldn't have stopped any of this from happening," Trent replied. He ran a hand through his dark locks. "I just wished they'd get their heads together and realize all this tentative stuff they're doing is only hurting themselves. I mean Nick is practically throwing Jeff to Sebastian with the way he and Jeff are acting."

Speaking of the devil, Trent looked up in time to find Sebastian strolling into the room with all the cockiness of a scared little boy. His green eyes immediately searched for Jeff's only to find the ground when Jeff didn't spare him a glance.

Trent couldn't help but feel bad for Sebastian. After everything, Jeff had always been the one to have his back—minus the slushy incident where Jeff actually yelled at Sebastian for that and ignored him for the rest of the week—and Trent knew how hard it must be for Sebastian to be stuck in the middle of Nick and Jeff.

 

Thad still had a hard crush on Blaine. He'd never let it go that one Kurt Hummel had managed to come into Dalton, steal Blaine's heart, and then steal Blaine himself back to where Kurt came from. That didn't mean Thad didn't like anyone else. He harbored feelings for a few guys at Dalton and even a few girls at Dalton's sister school Crawford Country Day. He just couldn't imagine himself with anyone but Blaine.

Now, though, as he sat watching Jeff being fought over by Sebastian and Nick, Thad couldn't help the immense jealousy that soared through him. He wanted someone to fight over him, and he wanted to be wanted.

He had no council to sit on, and he had no true friends that he could talk to he felt like. Now the only slight entertainment he had was to watch other peoples' love lives fall apart.

Thad sighed and turned towards Eddie, who was giving Sebastian a sneer at the lovesick puppy look he kept throwing Jeff.

"It's sick the way he's buckling down like that, isn't it?" Thad whispered.

"I'm surprised he's got feelings like that at all. Kind of makes me wonder why we made him our captain last year," Eddie replied.

"Because I'm a good leader and I would've done better if the damn New Directions hadn't beaten us out," Sebastian replied, leaning over to look at the two. A dark look taking over his face, Sebastian trudged to an empty seat away from his supposed friends. Beside him sat Jeremy, who looked like he was rather enjoying the battle that was occurring between all the Warblers. Jeremy was new to the Warblers; he was added to the group when it turned out that Thad and Trent couldn't come to Sectionals because of their own personal reasons (Sebastian knew for sure Thad was flunking a class. Trent, on the other hand, he didn't know the reason for).

"Is it always this entertaining?" Jeremy asked.

Glaring, Sebastian smarted, "Wait until you're in the middle of it all, newbie."

 

Practice finished with Jeff storming out of the practice room and towards the dorms. Behind him followed Trent and Cameron, who were probably the only people who could handle Jeff at the moment.

Jeff continued storming until he found himself on the third floor dorms. He glared at any of the boys who glanced out their rooms to see what the ruckus was and slammed the door into the wall when he made it to his and Nick's dorm.

"Jeff, calm down," Trent said. He placed himself cautiously on Nick's bed and watched as Jeff started tearing his uniform off.

"Trent, I just want to be left alone right now," Jeff said through clenched teeth.

Cameron spoke up, his brown eyes shining sympathy to the blond. "I feel like you could use a friend right now."

"What I need is to be left alone." Jeff walked over to the closet and jerked out a white tee and pants that would be comfortable enough to dance in. "Besides, I need to start choreographing our routine for Regionals."

"You shouldn't be dancing while this angry," Cameron tried. "You'll only hurt yourself."

"Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do?" Jeff asked. "I need to be alone because otherwise I'm very likely to kill my roommate in his sleep."

"Oh, so I'm no longer boyfriend? Figures you'd dump me for that man-whore," said Nick. He stood outside in the hallway looking in. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked as if it was taking everything he had not to come apart then and there.

"Nicholas Duval, if you don't shut your mouth I am liable to kill you where you stand," Jeff said sternly. Honestly, Trent and Cameron had never seen Jeff this angry. Usually he was able to brush it off and be okay in a day or two, but this anger had been going on for a week now. On top of that, they'd never seen Jeff issue death threats like this.

"Like you could even hurt me," Nick scoffed. "You're such a—"

"If you finish that sentence I'll kill you where you stand."

Everyone took in the sight of Sebastian walking up to the room. He walked with the confidence he'd always held, and the look in his eyes was deadly. Honestly, none of them had seen him this worked up; last year, when he wanted to attack the boys who had made David Karofsky want to commit suicide came close though.

"Sebastian, get out of my face," Nick said.

"Your threats are worse than Ladyface Hummel. At least his held bite," Sebastian remarked.

By now, Jeff had somehow managed to get his shirt on, and now he had to slip into his pants and he was ready to go. Not even bothering with closing the door—Nick would just open it—Jeff slid his uniform pants off and hopped into his pants. He grabbed a pair of Converse and walked out of the room, ignoring the looks Trent, Cameron, Nick, and Sebastian were giving him. He walked down the hallway, only to stop hallway and turn.

"If any of you interrupt me while I'm choreographing, I will make sure your moves make you actually die," Jeff said.

With that, he turned and walked all the way back to the Warbler practice room. By now everyone had managed to leave the room.

 

Flint was worried for the group. He was worried about his friends, but he was worried more about their fighting breaking the group up. Now that Jeff and Nick had started fighting with Sebastian, it seemed like several members were beginning to throw in their own opinions they'd left out the year before about any and every member. The entire group was falling apart and Flint needed some way to pull them back together.

He thought about sending Blaine a text—Blaine would know what to do about everyone fighting—but thought against it. He was probably still mad at them for stealing the New Directions' Nationals trophy.

Flint looked over at his roommate Jackson. Jackson was captain of the lacrosse team, so maybe he would know what to do. At least, Flint hoped so.

"Hey," Flint asked.

"What do you want, Watson?" Jackson asked as he flipped through a magazine.

"How do you keep your teammates from falling apart? The Warblers… there's a lot of stuff going on that it just seems like everything's going to fall apart."

"Well, first off, I outlawed dating within the team. Just complicates everything like it is right now for your little group. Second of all, most of the members—minus Sebastian and some of the other members of your little choir—are straight so we don't ever have to worry about them actually liking one another," Jackson replied.

"That doesn't help at all. The Warblers are falling apart right now. I need something that will fix us before Regionals," Flint replied.

"Make the culprits responsible for the team falling apart see the Provost or something," Jackson shrugged, "or force them to see a counselor. I'm sure they'll get some shit worked out that way."

"I'm not the captain so what I tell them won't matter," Flint pointed out.

"But you're their little beatboxer. Threaten to quit and they'll eat right out of the palm of their hand," Jackson muttered.

"Seriously?"

"Well as long as you don't quit it'll be fine. Besides, I highly doubt there's any other beatboxer within Dalton. If there was, wouldn't they be in your little group?"

Flint rolled his eyes, though his roommate had a point. Even if he was making fun of the Warblers to make it (Flint knew if they didn't win Nationals this year the entire reputation that came with being a Warbler would be finished. They had to win Nationals, or everyone would suffer the consequences).

 

Jeff turned to the Warblers' iPod dock that barely got used and put on his iPod. He turned to the first song and began listening to the dueling cellos belt out a beat between the two. Nodding his head for a minute, Jeff stepped back and let the music run through him. He spun on the tips of his toes and started dancing, letting his body move to the beat of the song.

During a part of the song that was quieter where the singer was meant to sing, Jeff pulled his body low to the floor and spun up to full height, his arms flying above his head as he bent his back like a ballet dancer. He continued spinning on his feet and dancing to the song.

The anger and disgust at the way Nick was acting towards him bubbled inside him and the speed his body was moving to the song wasn't working to push the emotions away, so Jeff began to move faster. He spun at twice the speed before and jumps were happening twice as often.

_"I can't believe you would do that!" Jeff yelled at Nick one day after practice. In the middle of learning a song for Regionals, Nick had turned to Jeff and said that he needed to work on sounding better because he was affecting the group._

_"It's the truth," Nick said simply._

_"You know how I feel about my voice! I made it into the Warblers, and you push me down like this? I thought you were my best friend, Nicky."_

_"No, you thought wrong. The minute you laid your disgusting mouth on Sebastian's was the end of everything!"_

Jeff growled under his breath, bent his head, and danced over to a table in the room. He slid on the table and back flipped off the end, landing on his feet as the song began speeding up.

Pushing himself harder, Jeff moved his feet to the song as another memory from the past week crept into his mind.

_Jeff had come back to the dorm in hopes of catching Nick away so he could find peace and quiet. He hadn't been able to stay any more nights with Trent and Cameron since their RA found out and kicked him back to his dorm. Said something about needing to work it out._

_Instead of finding quiet, Jeff found Nick in the dorm sitting close with Tony Snyder, one of the performers from Sectionals. The two were laughing about something in what looked like Nick's French book, until Nick looked up and found Jeff standing in the doorway._

_"Finally decided to stop interfering in Trent and Cameron's love life?" Nick spat._

_"I was actually hoping to get a change of clothes. I need to… go," Jeff mumbled. He watched as Nick curled an arm around the other boy's body, hugging him close as he smirked evilly at Jeff._

_"Oh, go right ahead," Nick replied. "Hey, when you're done with Sebastian, you should really get yourself checked out for STDs."_

_"I'm not messing around with Sebastian!" Jeff yelled._

_"Then why is he suddenly hanging off you every time I'm around?" Nick asked._

The end of the song was coming up and Jeff thought he'd worked out all the anger when one last memory filled his mind.

_Jeff collapsed on the bed after working with Hunter on the beginnings of choreography. He was exhausted and felt like his feet might actually fall off when Nick shuffled and stared at him._

_"What?" Jeff asked._

_"Working your way to Hunter? You know he's not bi-curious," Nick sneered. "Who knew you'd turn into the little slut."_

Letting out a yell, Jeff flung himself into a twirl in the air as the end of the song came. Right as he was coming down, however, Jeff realized one thing.

He wasn't going to land correctly.

In an instant Jeff was on the ground, pain soaring through him as he clutched his ankle. He yelled for help and screamed in pain every time he tried to move his foot. In an instant, Jeff had seen everything flash through his life. There would be no more dancing for him, he was sure, and it was all because of Nick and everything that had happened recently.

With a passion, Jeff hated Nick.

 

Sebastian had been walking down the hallway in hopes of finding Jeff. He knew Jeff was off choreographing for Regionals, but Sebastian also knew he wasn't in the right mindset to dance. He could get hurt by pushing himself so hard. So, Sebastian was taking a possible death for the Warblers to try and calm Jeff down (besides he was probably one of the only ones able to handle any dance routine Jeff choreographed him).

Right as he turned the corner to the Warbler practice room, however, he heard a loud yell for help that could've only come from Jeff. Without a thought, Sebastian took off on a run and came upon the worse sight possible.

On the ground, curled around his leg was Jeff, who kept trying to touch his ankle and screaming even louder in pain every time he did.

"Jeff!" Sebastian yelled. He ran to Jeff's side and ran his eyes over the poor boy hoping to see anything but a sprained ankle.

Sobbing, Jeff cried into Sebastian's shoulder. Faintly, Sebastian heard him sob, "It's all over. Regionals. College. My life as a dancer's ruined."

"No," Sebastian said firmly. "You'll be fine. It's not going to be that bad. You'll be back in time for Regionals."

"I can't choreograph Regionals with a hurt leg, Sebastian."

"I'll do it," Sebastian replied. "Besides, we all know I'm the best dancer after you. You'll just sit in and memorize."

After a moment, Sebastian curled his arms around Jeff and pulled him into his arms. He got to his feet and struggled to the hallway. Right as he got Jeff and himself out into the hallway, other Warblers came running down. In the midst stood Hunter, who looked slightly angry that Jeff had hurt himself but also worried about Jeff. Also in the midst stood a shell-shocked Nick, who stayed in the back and watched as his boyfriend was carried to the nearest car by Sebastian Smythe.


	5. Nick Duval

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nick looks more like a character from some online show called "Buffering" and Jeff moves on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry it's taken me so long to update this, but I'm back to fix the mess Glee's made (ignore the latest episode).

The practice room was abuzz with Warblers speaking with one another. They stood in assortments of cliques, each speaking of what had occurred with Jeff. Huddled beside Cameron stood Trent, taking in the different groups with his keen eye zeroing in on Sebastian's stiff back and the way he constantly drove his hand through his still long locks.

The talking suddenly quieted with Jeff hobbling into the room with a pair of metal crutches under his arms. He placed the crutches in front of him, moving until he made it to the center of the practice room.

"Jeff!" Sebastian pushed his way through the crowd of Warblers until he was in front of Jeff.

"Hey," Jeff said. He smiled softly at Sebastian.

"What's wrong with your leg?" Trent asked.

"Doctor says it's sprained. It'll take a few weeks to heal, but he said I should be healed up in time to watch you guys perform Regionals." Jeff shrugged. "At least I got to perform at Sectionals, right?"

"You're not going to be able to perform?" Sebastian asked.

"The doctor said I'd be ready to walk normally about a week before Regionals."

Sebastian smiled. "Then it's settled. Week before Regionals is dedicated to you getting the steps down."

"That's insane," Jeff said. "I can't pull that off in that time."

"You can, and you will," Hunter said. He pushed his way through to stand beside Sebastian. He placed a hand on Sebastian's shoulder, squeezing it slightly. "We need our best dancer."

 

Nick couldn't stand there and watch what he'd caused. Without a word, Nick fled the practice room and flew into the halls. He kept walking, pushing himself further and further away.

The guilt was eating his body apart; his heart felt like it was pounding out of his chest and he felt like if he cried any more tears he might dry his eyes to blindness. All Nick had ever cared about was Jeff, and he'd pushed the one person he'd ever loved away.

"Nick!"

"Leave me alone, Flint," Nick said. He kept walking.

"You need to talk to someone," said Flint. He reached Nick and grasped his shoulder. "This is killing you, man."

"What's it matter? It's because of me that Jeff is like this!" Nick shook his head. "I—I need to just get away. It'll be better."

"Why?" Flint asked.

"Because I visited Jeff at the hospital," Nick said. "And I told him that I didn't deserve someone like him. I told him that we should just stop this drama and accept the fact that we're done."

"Why?" Flint asked.

Rolling his eyes, Nick placed his hands on his hips. He glared at Flint.

"Look, I know how long you and Jeff have loved one another—"

"And that relationship is now done," Nick said. "So, just let me go."

"You're giving up the Warblers?" Flint searched Nick's eyes in the hopes of catching something, anything that would change the course the Warblers were taking.

"It's best if I don't see Jeff for a while," Nick replied. He turned and ran up the stairs to the dorm rooms.

 

Jeff and Sebastian fell into an easy pattern of meeting one another just before classes ended for Sebastian to help Jeff carry his books to his next class. At first, Jeff couldn't tell the true reason why Sebastian was being so nice (he'd coined the term knight-in-shining-blazer), until one day before lunch Sebastian brought him out to the front lawn of Dalton. The two sat down on the grass with Sebastian immediately turning towards Jeff, seriousness overtaking his face.

"Jeff, I need to ask you something," Sebastian said.

"What is it?" Jeff asked.

"I know you and Nick broke up while you were in the hospital. Well, I just wanted to make you aware of things. Things I've felt for you for a long time." Sebastian looked down at his lap, and for a second Jeff caught glimpse of the true Sebastian—an insecure, scared little boy. "I like you. A lot. I know that you could never feel for me what I know I feel for you, but all I'm asking is for a chance."

"A chance at what?" Jeff asked. His hazel eyes flicked up to meet Sebastian's green eyes before looking back at the grass below them.

"A chance to show you that I'm not the playboy you know I am. A chance to show you that I can change."

"You're asking if we could date?" Jeff looked anywhere but him, but the sudden urge to look up at Sebastian was almost too strong. He caught himself looking up several times before he looked back down.

"Please?" Sebastian let out a breath. All composure he'd held was lost in that second. His blazer wrinkled and he was itching himself in areas like his forearms and his neck and he knew he had to look like a splotchy fool in front of Jeff with his perfect, porcelain-like skin that Jeff did nothing for.

"I—I dunno," Jeff said at last. He looked up at Sebastian. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Give me the chance to show you how much I care for you and you'll change your mind. One date, and if you still feel this way then we'll just be friends. Deal?"

The weight of the world seemed to be crushing Jeff's shoulders. He was standing at a crossroads possibly making a deal with a demon and he only knew one answer that could possibly help him move on from Nick.

"Okay."

 

Hunter hated his job sometimes. Really, all this drama the private schoolboys held was tiresome at best. They were all too involved with one another; most were actually in relationships with one another, but that was another story in of itself.

He stood outside the room Nick had been staying in with Trey Bevens, one of Eddie's best friends, and knocked on the red oak door with more force than before. This floor housed the seniors who'd decided to take the nicer rooms for themselves. This usually involved things like offering Dalton more money in order to secure this room, however, and therefore half the dorms on this floor stood empty. In fact, the only other person Hunter knew of who lived on this floor was Sebastian, and that was mostly due to all the late night booty calls he brought home.

"Nick, open the door. Now," Hunter said. He beat his fist against the door.

Silence met him.

"'Sup?" Trey asked. He walked up to Hunter, eyebrow raised at Hunter's fury.

"Your damn roommate won't open the door. Now, go inside and let me talk to him," Hunter said. He crossed his arms over his chest, eyebrow raised in waiting.

Sighing, Trey walked up to the door. He ran a hand through his slightly curled dark locks and opened the door to Nick in a pair of boxers with a bathrobe hanging open. He sat in front of the television in the room, yelling at the television about what Hunter suspected was SpongeBob. When Hunter got closer, he realized that Nick had also done a blasphemy; Nick had ungelled his hair. While Jeff was the only Warbler who didn't gel his locks, it was still kept perfectly kempt. Nick's hair, however, was a hot mess begging to be gelled back to perfection.

"Get up," Hunter said. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Trey slop onto his bed, slipping huge headphones that covered his ears on while he jammed to some hip-hop song.

"I'm done with the Warblers," Nick said.

"Then why are you rooming with a Warbler? Nick, this is insane. Get up," said Hunter. He crouched down beside Nick and groaned at the untidiness to Nick's outfit.

"It's better this way," Nick said.

"No, it's not. You were going to get a solo for Regionals."

Nick perked up. He stared at Hunter for a moment. "Are you serious?"

"Well, not so sure now, but yeah."

Nick started to stand up, but then he sat back down. "Nope, I can't. Jeff needs his space."

"Jeff's not going to be dancing," Hunter said. "He'll be sitting and singing. Watching us perform the choreography. That's it. Can't you deal with that?"

"No," Nick said.

"Why not?" Hunter asked.

"Because Sebastian's going to be all over him now and I can't take that pain. Not when I've already let him go," Nick said. "Now go. Please."

 

Sebastian walked through the halls of Dalton, one set of books in his hand, with a huge smile covering his face. The boys he passed all looked terrified as they passed him, huge eyes meeting him every time he stared at someone and shying away when he got too close. When he got to the English room, Jeff met him there with a soft smile covering his face.

"Someone looks happy for once," Sebastian said.

"I just feel like I have no obligations in the world right now," Jeff said. "I mean, I don't have Nick constantly telling me I'm not good enough and I don't have Hunter breathing down my neck to get choreography ready for songs we won't even perform, and I just feel free."

"And here I thought you would say it was because of me," Sebastian said. He chuckled and took the books from Jeff's hands. "Now, onto Soviet History?"

"No," Jeff said. He stopped hobbling down the hallway, shuffled onto his good leg, and stood straight up. He grinned. "Let's go get ice cream."

"Ice cream?"

"Well, I think ice cream is a good ice breaker," Jeff said. "Plus, it gives me the chance to see how American you are."

"I'm not too sure what that has to do with anything, babycheeks. I did live in Paris," Sebastian said. "But, I'll drive us to Graeter's."

Jeff smiled and hobbled down the hallway, ditching the boring lecture Soviet History was sure to bring.

 

Trent laid his head on his bed, staring up at the dull patterns on the ceiling. He could surely feel his sunshine dulling like the ceiling above him. Everything in the Warblers was all wrong, and Trent couldn't help but feel like he had to be the one to fix it.

The first step? Getting Nick back to the Warblers.


End file.
